He was beloved and honoured by his coun try as one of her worthiest citizens; and although he never courted political honours, he no sooner attained the age prescribed by law, than he was elected a Member of the LesserCouncil. After his death, some of his fellowcitizens erected a monument to his memory, in the most beautiful of the public walks, at the confluence of the Sihl and the Lemmat.

His tranquil life was terminated without pain by an apoplectic stroke. He died the second of March, 1787, lamented by his wife, his three children, and his sister, who survived him. His daughter married M. Zellweguer, one of the principal merchants of Swisserland; his youngest son married the daughter of the celebrated Wieland, the early friend of his father; the eldest seems to have possessed his father's talent for painting; and all his children have equally inherited his noble sentiments and his goodness of heart, the most conspicuous traits of his moral character.

ARGUMENT.

Introduction-Abel and Thirza-Abel's morning hymn -Adam and Eve-Mehala-Cain's soliloquy-Conversation in the bower-Adam expostulates with Cain-Anguish of Adam-Cain's repentance-His reconciliation with his brother-Mehala and Thirza prepare a repast in the bower.

I NOW aspire to sing a lofty strain; the situation of our first parents after their lamentable fall, and him who, sacrificed by his brother's fury, first mingled his dust with the parent earth. Repose now, soft rustic pipe, with which I once chaunted the amiable simplicity and the manners of rural life. Assist me, O! Muse; who inspirest the poet's soul, when musing in the tranquil solitude of the midnight hour, either in the mild radiance of the noon, in the obscurity of the grove, or on the

Invocation.

With

shadowed banks of the sequestered stream. When holy transport fills his soul, his fervid imagination soars aloft, and undaunted, speeds its flight through created nature, to the remoter regions of possibility, where it collects rich stores of the marvellous and beautiful. these treasures it returns to rear the motley structure, while cautious reason, asserting her mild dominion, assumes the inspection over the work, approves, rejects, and seeks harmonious combinations. How swiftly fly the golden hours of sublime enjoyment devoted to the delightful occupation! He is abundantly compensated for watching amidst the cricket's music, till the rising of the morning star, who obtains the love and esteem of those, whose refined taste is delighted with all that is beautiful, and who excites in hearts endowed with sensibility, sentiments of virtue. Succeeding generations justly revere the poet's urn embraced by the aged ivy, whom the Muses themselves inspired to teach the world innocence and virtue. His fame survives with undiminished lustre, when the trophies of the conqueror are mouldered into dust; when the splendid mausoleum